RE: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal

["Waszak, Tom" <Tom.Waszak () connect xerox com>]

> > Ummm... me thinks you are overeacting a shade...
Maybe.. maybe not.. What... me.... a security guy overreacting to something?


> > So you as a professional, senior consultant in IT security will make
decisions based upon whether or not a vendor uses hyperbole or not when
describing the success of it's products?
Hyperbole will not affect my decisions regarding technology or products.
The success of a product will be assessed by it's own merit and the vendors
ability to support their product.  Hyperbole will affect how I am or am not
going to cultivate, approach, grow, and or handle a vendor relationship.
Other factors include perceived integrity, product, and what they have to
bring to the table.   

> > That sounds pretty harmless to me... and as a finalist in the competition,
the new Gauntlet obviously won some votes...
Point taken... It was not harmless when two NAI regional managers told me to
my face (at two separate meetings) that Gauntlet had won best of show.  

> > You really don't like NAI, do you?  
Here's the deal:  When vendors approach me to talk about building a
business, when they want something from me i.e.: my money, my time, my
resources, access to my customer base, the ability to say we are partnered
with so and so,  I expect them to be straight shooters.  

> > Personally I believe that regardless of marketese, good products are
fundamentally good products regardless of the marketing ability or inability
of the vendor. The real important people are the engineers and technical
directors who make the products in the first place - forget the hyperbole
and let's take a look at the technology.
I agree 100% with you.  Unfortunately most people, including many engineers
and especially technical directors, make most of their decisions based upon
vendor claims and hyperbole.  Forgive my blasphemy, the real important
people are not the engineers or necessarily the technical directors.  The
real important people are the ones who make the decisions of whether or not
to implement, what to implement, how to implement, and how much they are
going to pay.  Typically in corporate America, most of these people do not
have the time nor the expertise to make a decision based upon anything but
hyperbole.  
Go ahead and ask your average technical director to describe the pluses and
minuses of employing a application level gateway over stateful packet
inspection (or vice versa).   In a way it's a good thing for most of us,
it's what keeps us employed.  However, it's a bad thing if we can't get to
them and educate them. It's also not good for quality security products.  I
don't believe the best product prevails, I believe the crappiest  product
with the best marketing does.  BTW:  I don't necessarily mean that all NAI
products are crap.

                -----Original Message-----
                From:   Christopher Nicholls [mailto:chrisn () softway com au]
                Sent:   Wednesday, November 11, 1998 02:02
                To:     firewall-wizards () nfr net
                Subject:        Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The
Real Deal

                At 06:43 PM 09/11/98 -0500, Waszak, Tom wrote:
                >*Note:  I do not work for any security product vendors.
Also note that
                >these are my opinions and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of my
                >employer Xerox Connect*
                >
                >The LAN Times and Data Communications sponsored "Best of
Show Networld +
                >Interop '98"  has been a major marketing coup for NAI.  If
you read their
                >press release
(http://www.nai.com/about/news/press/1998/october/102898.asp
        
> <http://www.nai.com/about/news/press/1998/october/102898.asp>  ) it would
                >lead you to believe that they actually won the Best of Show
Award in the
                >"Network Security and IP Tools" category.  It is nothing
more than a
                >wonderful example of creative writing and word play.  
                <SNIP>

                Ummm... me thinks you are overeacting a shade... The comment
on NAI's own
                Web-site was:

                "Network Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: NETA) today announced
that its Gauntlet
                Firewall was honored in the prestigious 1998 Best of Show
awards at last
                week's NetWorld+Interop show in Atlanta. Gauntlet Firewall,
widely
                respected as the industry's most secure firewall, was
honored as
                Best-of-Show finalist in the Network Security and
Performance category."

                That sounds pretty harmless to me... and as a finalist in
the competition,
                the new Gauntlet obviously won some votes...

                >I have contact with all the major firewall vendors.  All
are prone to slight
                >exaggeration about their products.  It's the nature of the
business.
                >However, I have noticed that NAI has developed a pattern
that really makes
                >me wonder whether or not they....well I won't say...draw
your own
                >conclusions.  I will say this:  Integrity is important in
any vendor
                >relationship.  I need to know that the people I talk to are
telling me the
                >truth and can call a spade a spade.  If a vendor can't do
that I don't want
                >to deal with him or her.  Hmmm...I wonder how many NAI
product
                >recommendations I'll make in the future?

                So you as a professional, senior consultant in IT security
will make
                decisions based upon whether or not a vendor uses hyperbole
or not when
                describing the success of it's products? 
                >
                >Here's something you could do if your really bored...call
your local NAI rep
                >and ask them if Gauntlet won best of show.  

                You really don't like NAI, do you?

                Personally I believe that regardless of marketese, good
products are
                fundamentally good products regardless of the marketing
ability or
                inability of the vendor. The real important people are the
engineers and
                technical directors who make the products in the first place
- forget the
                hyperbole and let's take a look at the technology.

                Kind regards

                Christopher
        
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                Christopher A. Nicholls
        
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